In the related art, a door handle apparatus having a door handle body provided on a vehicle door on a surface outside of a cabin and formed into a grip shape to be griped when the door is opened as described, for example, in JP 2004-244991A (Reference 1) is known. In general, the door of the vehicle is provided with a door body formed of an outer panel arranged on the outside of the cabin and an inner panel arranged on the inside of the cabin joined together. A space is provided between the outer panel and the inner panel, and the door handle apparatus is inserted into the space (that is, in the interior of the door body), and is fixed to the outer panel. The door handle body of the door handle apparatus described in JP 2004-244991A (Reference 1) is supported so as to be capable of rotating on a rotary shaft provided at one end portion. In a state in which the door is not operated to be opened or closed such as during travel or parking, the door handle body is stored in the door body. In other words, the door handle body is standstill at a first handle position (initial position) where the side surface thereof on the outside of the cabin and the side surface of the door panel on the outside of the cabin is positioned on an identical plane. Accordingly, design of the door is improved, and wind drag during travel is reduced. In this state, the user is not allowed to grip the door handle body. In contrast, when the door is opened from the outside of the vehicle, the door handle body rotates so that the other end portion thereof protrudes outward from the cabin with respect to the side surface of the door panel on the outside of the cabin and stops at a predetermined second handle position. In this state, the user is allowed to grip the door handle body. The door remains closed until the user grips the door handle body and rotates the door body toward the outside of the cabin.
Specifically, the door handle apparatus includes an actuator composed of a solenoid or an electric motor configured to rotate the door handle body from the first handle position to the second handle position. When the user presses a button provided on a handheld unit, a signal indicating that the door handle body is to be rotated is emitted from the handheld unit. This signal is received by a control unit provided in a vehicle body. The control unit drives the actuator when being subjected to the signal, and rotates the door handle body from the first handle position to the second handle position. Accordingly, a state in which the user is allowed to grip the door handle body is assumed.
An action taken when the user erroneously rotates the door handle body in a state of being at the second handle position toward the first handle position is not described In JP-A-2004-244991. In view of a configuration of this door handle apparatus, when the door handle body is rotated toward the first handle position in a state in which the door handle body is at the second handle position, the door handle body stops at the first handle position. Therefore, when the user opens the door, the user is required to press the button provided on the handheld unit again to restore the door handle body to the second handle position. When the user erroneously causes the door handle body to be rotated from the second handle position to the first handle position, time and efforts are required to restore the door handle body to the second handle position.